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Scientists have picked up on an unusually high amount of electromagnetic activity coming from Jupiter’s moon Ganymede.

These are coming in the form of ‘extraordinary’ intense waves that are a million times more powerful than the typical electromagnetic signals on Earth.

These so-called ‘chorus waves’ were discovered using the Galileo Probe spacecraft, which undertook a survey of Jupiter’s wave environment.

Ganymede is one of Jupiter’s moons and is captured in its vast magnetic field (Image: Nasa/JPL)

Scientists, led by Yuri Shprits from the University of Potsdam in Germany, believe the power of these waves may come from Jupiter’s own magnetic field – which is the strongest in the solar system.

‘It’s a really surprising and puzzling observation showing that a moon with a magnetic field can create such a tremendous intensification in the power of waves,’ said Professor Shprits, the lead author of the study.

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Professor Richard Horne of the British Antarctic Survey who is a co-author on the study, said: ‘Chorus waves have been detected in space around the Earth but they are nowhere near as strong as the waves at Jupiter.’

Jupiter, the largest planet in our solar system, with two of its satellites, Io on the left (above Jupiter’s Great Red Spot) and Europa on the right, March 1979. The image was taken by the Voyager 1 spacecraft. (Picture: Space Frontiers/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

‘Even if small portion of these waves escapes the immediate vicinity of Ganymede, they will be capable of accelerating particles to very high energies and ultimately producing very fast electrons inside Jupiter’s magnetic field.’

Studying the electromagnetic waves of Jupiter and other planets ultimately allows scientists to understand more about energy sources and as well as orbital mechanics in the solar system.